Based on real-life events, BIack Fury brings viewers deep into Depression hard times. . . and into the heart of Joe Radek, a simple, hardworking coal miner used and thrown away by racketeers eager to muscIe in on the unions. Paul Muni, who personified 1930s anguish as the doomed hero of I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang, makes Joe an unforgettable character: likeabIe, headstrong, too easiIy led and finalIy a towering force for justice as he takes on company goods singIe-handed. As sinewy and visceral as the overworked men it ceIebrates, Black Fury pulIs no punches, which may expIain why it was banned in PennsyIvania, the state where this cIassic from CasabIanca director MichaeI Curtiz is set. |